The Valley Initiatives Incubator, which operates in Migdal Ha'Emek, was chosen as an incubator worthy of special mention due to its great contribution to the area
The annual conference of the incubators for technological entrepreneurship took place last week at the Daniel Hotel in Herzliya in the presence of the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Ehud Olmert.
Olmert said that the greenhouse program is an example and model of proper involvement of the state in starting an important economic activity that would not have happened without the special support of the government and the special and supportive environment of the greenhouses that makes this possible.
The chief scientist at TMT, Dr. Eli Ofer, said that the achievements of the outstanding projects speak for themselves, to reach within such a short period of time, in such difficult and complicated developments, strategic partnerships with the leading companies in the world, and to raise investments in such impressive volumes - these are achievements that justify the activation The greenhouse program.
Rena Pridor, director of the technological incubators program, said that it must be remembered that these impressive achievements were achieved during a very difficult time for the Israeli economy and the global economy, says. We also worked intensively during the crisis and now when the investment market wakes up we are ready with the goods, and the investments are indeed coming.
The conference was attended by Dr. Eli Ofer, Chief Scientist of the TMT Ministry, Knesset Member Mali Polishook, Micha Harish - former Minister of TMT, Major General Yitzhak Yaakov (Itza) - the first Chief Scientist, Shoki Gleitman, CEO of SFKT and Chief Scientist Formerly, Ron Nachman - Mayor of Ariel, Eli Malka - Head of the Golan Regional Council, Sami Bar Lev - Mayor of Katzrin, Elisha Yanai - Vice President of Motorola Global.
CEOs of companies that have graduated from Hamma that operate successfully in the Israeli economy also participated, who this time served as the judging committee that selected the outstanding projects.
Also participating in the conference were entrepreneurs and project managers in the incubators, managers of companies graduated from the incubator, the managements of the incubators, members of the investor community, venture capital funds, and the hi-tech community in Israel and public representatives.
Two greenhouses were chosen as the outstanding greenhouse for 2004:
• The Technion Incubator - which operates in Haifa. In the last 3 years, 11 projects were completed at the Technion incubator, eight of which managed to raise investments in the total amount of 20 million dollars.
• Hamma Niyot - operating in the industrial area in Yokneam. In the past 3 years, 12 projects have been completed in the Niyot incubator, nine of which managed to raise investments in a total amount of 9 million dollars.
The Valley Initiatives Incubator - operating in Migdal Ha'Emek was selected as an incubator whose contribution to the region in which it operates deserves special mention. 49 companies graduated from the incubator operate in the region. It should be noted that dozens of families moved to the area as a result of the greenhouse activity. In addition, an intensive intake of scientists and their families was done in the greenhouse during its 13 years of existence.
3 projects were selected as the outstanding projects for 2004:
• First place was won by the project: Pesticides based on essential oils, of Biomor Israel Ltd. in the Golan greenhouse.
Biomor develops organic pest control products based on essential oil extracted in a special process from the Australian tea tree plant.
The company raised about $XNUMX million and is now in the advanced stage of raising such an additional amount.
The Biomor company manufactures in Israel and sells all over the world. It operates in Katsrin in the Golan, employs fourteen people, and in the near future with the fulfillment of many orders that are on the way, the circle of employees will expand. Another achievement of the company: the introduction of a new agricultural branch in the Golan - growing the tea tree which will provide raw material for Biomor's pesticide industry, and create additional employment in the area.
• Second place was awarded to the project: a thorough and comprehensive solution to protect computers against hostile intrusions, by the company Security or Al Ltd., in the Moffat hothouse operating in Kiryat Arba.
Skyor El has developed a technology that is a conceptual change in the world of information security.
The software does not check if the intrusion is hostile in order to destroy it - it simply makes it irrelevant. Its software divides the PC and the network into two parallel work environments, one real and the other virtual - and the incoming attacker can carry out his plan, destroying everything in his path without hindrance - but he does so in the virtual environment and does not cause any damage to the computer. This is how the innovative technology allows organizations to work with the Internet in complete freedom, without worrying about attacks and while maintaining maximum protection of the organizational information.
• Third place was won by the project: tools for deep pressing, of the company Frixo Ltd. in Hammat L.N. operating in Haifa.
Frixo is engaged in the development of technology for the surface treatment of machine parts to reduce their friction and wear.
The technological process developed by Frisco integrates into the existing production process of the machine parts, and generates a unique innovative phenomenon that reduces friction and wear by four times and even more compared to what exists today.
In a short period of time, the company established relationships with some of the largest companies in the world in the automotive field, such as Caterpillar, Bentley, Dana Corporation, Ford, SKF and others. The company raised $1.7 million over the past year.
